[streeter1995]

To start this is an 1880 house, that is not perfectly level, square, plum etc. Although I have spent a painstaking amount of time doing my best to get a lot of it that way. after a year of spending every spare minute and weekend gutting, framing, wiring, plumbing, etc I handed the keys over to a local sheet rocker that came recommended. the attached pictures are his progress up to this point. I'm not a sheet rocker. I've hung it, I've never mud it. it's not that I couldn't, it's that I am very particular and want it perfect, so I hire a professional. the old saying, "you can't beat a man at his trade" I'm an electrician by trade so I am a firm believer in this. - so getting to the pictures and sheet rock. how the sheet rock has been and is being hung doesn't set well with me. I would never hang it like that. and I've brought this up to my contractor very respectfully multiple times that I'm concerned with the gaps, excess screws everywhere that missed studs, shower enclosures not having sheet rock over the fiberglass screwing flange, etc. i could go on, but the pictures tell the story. my contractor has repeatedly told me to not worry, he prefills his sheet rock with durabond. it's harder than the sheet rock, he gives a 2 year crack warranty, I haven't paid him a cent, when he primes the house any imperfections in the sheet rock will be visible for him to fix etc, etc. SO CAN DURABOND REALLY PREFILL THOSE MASSIVE GAPS??? he started prefilled about a half inch gap in the downstairs living room ceiling and it was literally drooping out of it! ( picture attached) I'm so far into it at this point I have choice but to let him finish. nobody else in their right mind would pick up this job to mud it with the sheet rock hung like that. my previous sheet rocker (40 years in the trade, and does impeccable work) wouldn't touch this with a 40 for pole!!!

 

[gopherstateguy]

The tub walls are hung correctly. If you rock over the flange it flares out and your base or tile will look like crap not to mention crooked vertical angles above the tub. Unless you shimmed out those 3 walls. Millions of tubs have been finished this way for decades. The rest is pretty rough but savable. I would put strips in the gappy angles. That sagging mud can be scraped back. You should be able to withhold a certain amount of payment until you're satisfied with the results?

 

[streeter1995]

what is the proper way to finish over the tub flange? a thinner piece of sheet rock butted up to the 1/2" MR board and then mud & tape? I have not paid him a dime for labor. I bought and staged all the sheet rock in the house ( exactly what he wanted- quantity length type etc) 1500 sq ft house all the sheet rock ran me about 3300 delivered, then I paid a couple guys to help me unload the delivery and stage it in the house. so I'm about 3500 into the sheet rock on my end. I also want to toss out the fact this guy came recommended, and wasn't the lowest bid. he was the only bid, because I wanted the sheet rock perfect, and that's what he promised.

 

[gopherstateguy]

what is the proper way to finish over the tub flange? a thinner piece of sheet rock butted up to the 1/2" MR board and then mud & tape? I have not paid him a dime for labor. I bought and staged all the sheet rock in the house ( exactly what he wanted- quantity length type etc) 1500 sq ft house all the sheet rock ran me about 3300 delivered, then I paid a couple guys to help me unload the delivery and stage it in the house. so I'm about 3500 into the sheet rock on my end. I also want to toss out the fact this guy came recommended, and wasn't the lowest bid. he was the only bid, because I wanted the sheet rock perfect, and that's what he promised.

Pack flange with durabond. Let it set up. Tape with paper tape and all purpose compound. Coat twice. Sand or texture.

 

[picks drywall]

id agree with gopherguy.

the first pic tells me that they dont know to mark floor at boxes(line with x on either side). they sure could have done a better job but that place must be crooked as a snake! u can tell by the notched lid piece in the one pic. and i hope that flat top in cathedral is an optical illusion or that will never look rite. that would take what we call major creative mudding. lol make sure they screw it tight and remove pops. also flat tape or fill those monster gaps with fast set. mite consider having them round off those off angles. sometimes a lil creative mudding can give illusion of straightness. mite also look at skiptrowel texture to hide waves.

i appreciate your integrity in wanting it "perfect" but remodel never is. your gona have to grit your teeth some man. "it is what it is" rings true here. there is only so much sheetrock and mud can hide. i wouldnt have touched it with that 40' pole either.

 

[Mjaw]

Any old house will have plenty of issues. I found areas in my dads house 1865ish, where ut could have been better, then again the trades aren't that good in his area. The knee walls are horrible, if one of my guys did that id fire his ass, me personally could work with the rest, extra time and effort would be required.

 

[streeter1995]

thanks for the input. the knee walls are some of the worst. I actually used a milwaukee 3 plane laser to straighten up a lot of this house. the knee walls are all dead on. and the rafters are all flush. you can take an 8' level and lay it across them and be within a 1/16 of an inch. i know this because i sistered on where needed and used a plane to take off material where needed. where the rafters come down and meet the studs isnt inconsistent by any means. if you actually look at the picture and instead of assuming the house is "crooked as a snake" realized these guys cut their sheet too long and instead of taking it back down and cutting it to the proper length they notched around the the studs. it's just poor quality work.

 

[picks drywall]

if thats strait framing then they are hacks for sure. when i see boards hung like that i assume bad framing is the reason. cant tell plumb from pics.

" if you actually look at the picture and instead of assuming the house is "crooked as a snake" realized these guys cut their sheet too long and instead of taking it back down and cutting it to the proper length they notched around the the studs. it's just poor quality work"
i did actually look at the pic and it doesnt look like they are all notched. thats why i assumed it was crooked. even with the lid board hung like that the angle could have been fine if they had a kicker to lift it up. bevel on back side makes them even tighter.

thats a crying shame to hang it like that since you took all that time to dial it in.

 

[tamosius]

That's the reason I have hard time hiring anyone. I know, that I can do much better job then the average tradesman. So, I really take long time picking trades people, to make sure I get the one who takes pride in what one does. So far, I had to hire plumber for installing radiant heating boiler, roofer for installing metal roof, concrete guy for installing self leveling to cover water pipes in floor for heating, and looking for a drywall mudder for drywall that I hung myself.
All of them without exceptions were pretty stoked about my prep work.

Concrete provider (sales person) started taking pictures after he saw how pipes are done. Plumber looks into the pipes, looks around, after couple minutes - man, you did a good job.
Few mudders once they've found that I hung drywall wanted to see how it looks, before giving me an estimate. All of them woildn't shut up up how well it looks. Basically, it's drywall hanging porn. I could post pictures, but that would be like rubbing in.

The moral of all this - with a right amount of motivation, DIYer can and will do much better job than average trades person, for jobs like hanging drywall. It will probably take much longer, cause the one who's quality oriented will take time to do the right thing.
I can mud myself, but it takes for me at least 5 times longer to do what mudder can accomplish. And so, I'm hiring to save time. Fingers crossed that the mudder will not rush too much, and corners will be sharp, butt joints really wide, and no visible transitions from paper to mud. I guess, I can always fix it later, before priming, or after first coat of primer.

Tldr: do it yourself for the best results, if you can.